General Surgery Training in India: a Self SWOT Analysis

The work pressure, challenging environment, and the difficult terms/conditions of the course lead to several unique problems amongst general surgery trainees in India. Self-assessment of one’s strengths and weaknesses is essential to maximally avail the opportunities and combat professional threats. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, a technique that is utilized in formulating strategies for success. Despite a strong and time-tested training module in India, trainees perceive many deficiencies in the general surgery training viz. high work pressure, burn-out, limited time for research/publications, long and hefty rural service bond, etc., which leads to a negative impact on their personal and professional trajectory. Despite such challenges in majority of trainees, only a small minority of them discuss this with their mentors. We propose a self SWOT analysis matrix, constructed in collaboration of the trainees with their mentors, helping them to develop strategies to self-manage their training period.